Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said the BSE testing requirements for beef exports to the Russian Federation/Customs Union were now the same as those that apply within the EU.

The Russian move followed an EU decision to increase the age of testing for intra-community trade to 72 months with effect from July 1.

Underlining the importance of the Russian Federation as a key third country market for Irish beef, Mr Coveney said the decision should help Irish beef exporters significantly by removing a technical barrier to the trade.

The minister explained that this positive news stemmed from detailed technical negotiations between veterinary experts from the Customs Union member states -- the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Belarus -- and the European Union in May of this year.

Last year, Ireland exported 7,985t of beef to Russia at a value of €11.895m.

The total volume of exports to third country markets last year was 13,470t at a value of €22.635m.